Mar 13, 2017 10:03 AM EDT By Chris Brandt, UniversityHerald Reporter

When we hear Vedic or Vedas, the first thing that comes to mind is one of the oldest literature in the world where the Indian religion bases its teachings and principles. Since it's about religion, literature, and principles, it is more closely related to philosophy. However, one Hindu cleric has introduced a math method he said was based on this ancient knowledge - Vedic math.

Vedic math is a book published by a Hindu cleric named Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, who claimed to have discovered the method from the Vedas after studying it for many years. Just like the Vedas, Vedic math has sutras or rules, all of which are mental calculation techniques.

His method created a controversy because of the term he used for the method as well as his claim where it originated from. Critics say that Tirthaji has evidence whether these techniques really came from the Vedas. Tirhatji defended his technique saying that Vedic math was not included in standards version of the Parisista, a part of the Vedas.

Vedic math has been included in the syllabus of schools in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as well as in schools run by Hindu nationalists. Over the years, these groups have lobbied to make Vedic math included in the curriculum of the Indian school system. However, it has been strongly opposed by academics stating the reason that they are just techniques and not really math.

Despite the controversy, Vedic math is an easy and fast way to calculate complex and large multiplication and division problem. In fact, you can calculate mathematical problems without having to write long calculations when using this technique.

When multiplying numbers, you round off numbers by tens, hundreds, etc. Then, you cross-multiply and add the numbers to get the product. Here's a simple example below:

1 2
X 2 5
_______
2(1) 9(1) 0 = 300

In Vedic math, you multiply the last two digits together and the first two digits as well separately. That means, 5X2 = 10 and 2X1 = 2. After that, cross multiply, which is 2X2 and 5X1, the answers of which are 4 and 5 respectively, and add their sums. To understand it much better, watch the video below.

Below is an example of how to do division using Vedic math:

 671/4 = 4 | 6 (2) 7 (3) 1

167 r. 3

The numbers in the parenthesis are the remainders for each number on the left. With this method, you don't have to do long equations and spend a lot of time with even higher digits.

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